The Begining of a Nightmare

by speedboy3

Chapter 4

Do it. The Voice commanded Luna. The Princess of the Night was deep in the Everfree forest, the shadows seemed to have a life of their own as she looked at them through her mad eyes. She was standing in front of an old tree, it towered above the blue alicorn.

"I don't know if I can." She replied. So far, she had done everything that The Voice had told her to do, which mostly involved willing erself to forget that her sister was the kind, loving pony that Luna had grown up believing. However, this made her uncomfortable.

It's simple, just use your magic to take the life force from the tree. It will add to your powers, and help you defeat the Sun Tyrant. The Voice had begun to call Celestia the Sun Tyrant very early on in Luna's "training". According to The Voice, it was to help Luna break all ties between her and her sister. Luna hesitated, and The Voice was back, Luna, you need any advantage you can against the Sun Tyrant, you are a powerful pony, but she is even more powerful. You promised to do whatever I said. Do it.

Luna sighed. The Voice was right, she had promised, and Luna, unlike her sister acording to The Voice, wasn't one to go back on her promises. She stood in front of the tree, closed her eyes, and steeled herself for what she was about to do. Her horn glowed, and she extended her very being in order to find the tree"s life force. As soon as she felt the tree"s energy, she began to drain the energy into her own body. Warmth flooded through her as the tree's life force flooded her senses. Power surged through her as the final energy from the tree was absorbed into her body.

As the warmth faded, Luna opened her eyes. Everything seemed different. Not that anything had changed, it was just that they were...different. Luna gazed at the tree. It was dead. The bark was a sickly grey color, and the leaves that still hung off the branches had dried up and shrivled. Luna shivered at the realization of what she had just done.

You did well. The Voice praised her. Can you feel the power flowing through you? Imagine what you can now accomplish!

Luna was silent for a moment, then "yes, but it doesn't feel right, it feels like i've commited a murder." Tears formed in her eyes. The tree hadn't done anything to her, why should she take it's life?

To defeat the Sun Tyrant, sacrafices must be made.

"But..."

No buts, if you want to free the ponies from the Sun Tyrant's rule, you have to do this. Luna nodded. She wanted that more than anything.

The alicorn remembered her changed suroundings and asked, "what happened to the trees, and plants, and well everything?"

The Voice responded, take a look in that puddle over there. Luna gazed into the puddle's still surface and gasped. She had grown a good 2 inches, and her coat and mane had changed color. Instead of the blues of her coat and mane that she was used to, that had become darker, her mane almost a blackish color.

"Wht's happening to me?" Luna asked.

That is a side effect of the life draining spell. The Voice replied, your increased size is to accomidate the extra power that you recived, and the darker colors show off your true potential.

"What do you mean?"

You are the princess of the night. The night is a very powerful thing Luna, and you coat and mane shall reflect that power once they become as black as night itself. Luna thought about what the voice had said. Could she become as powerful as the night? Yes, of course she could, but at what cost? Could she bring herself to kill the innocent in order to defeat her sister?

The world suddenly shifted around Luna, and instead of a clearing in the Everfree Forest, she was standing in Canterlot. Only this wasn't the Canterlot she was used to. Most buildings either had a picture of Celestia in their windows, or banners of the Sun Princess draped over the walls. The only buildings that didn't show off pictures of the white alicorn had fallen into disrepair, sporting broken windows, cracked walls, and boarded up doors.

She saw garrison upon garrison of gaurds marching in rank past a raised platform. On the platform stood two ponies, one was an emaciated, terrified unicorn, his entire body shaking. The other was an earth pony who wore a hood covering his face. Luna gasped, this was an execution.

Another unicorn walked up onto the platform with a scroll held before him by magic.

"Prisoner #3509," the unicorn read, "you are charged with conspireing against her magisty Celestia, ruler of the sky, water, and earth, She who Controls the Sun, Moon, and Stars. If found guilty by those present, you will immediately be executed by means of beheading. How do you plead?"

"This is madness!" Luna shouted, "he shouldn't have to stand trial on the very platform where he'll be executed!"

They can't hear you. The Voice said. This is just a vision of things to come, should you fail.

"I plead not guilty!" The accused replied. Luna focused her attention on the so called trial.

"I have evidence that says otherwise." The accuser said. As he said this, anoter pony came onto the podium holding wo items on an evidence tray. One was a card of some sort, while the other was a rolled up scroll. "Let's begin with this card shall we?" The accuser continued, "on one side, it looks like any normal business card right?" He held up the card to show he wasn't lying, "but on the other side, there's a mesage. It reads 'Midnight, Canterlot Gardens, plan A for now.' Now if that isn't conspiracy, then I don't know what is!"

"That's not..." the unfortunate prisoner began, but the accuser cut him off.

"Now, let's see what the scroll has on it." He opened the scroll, and turned it so it was facing the crowd gathered below. "At first glance, this looks like any normal letter, but look closer, you will see that certain letters are capitalized at strange locations. These strange letters are as follows: D E A T H T O T H E S U N T Y R A N T, or when put into a sentance: death to the Sun Tyrant." The crowd let out a cry of disbelief.

"Those aren't mine!" The accused shouted above the uproar, "they were planted in my house by somepony!"

"Oh really?" The accuser asked in a mocking tone, "where's your proof then, who is this mysterious pony supposedly planting incrimidating evidence in houses?"

"How should I know?" The accused replied, "I didn't even know it was ther untill you burst through my front door."

"Well in that case I think the verdict is clear," the accuser said, his voice giddy with anticipation, "but the choice rests with this lovely crowd," he smiled at the ponies gathered below, "so, now i must ask. What. Is. Your. Verdict?" The accuser halted after each word, as if to build the suspense of the decision.

"GUILTY!" The crowd shouted.

"Very well." The accuser nodded to the hodded pony, who had been silently observing the proceedings. The unicorn that had brought the evidence now reapeared, this time with a sharpened axe. The executioner took the axe in his mouth, and walked over to the accused. Guards had appeared to restrain the frightened colt, and forced him to lie down, sticking his head out and exposing his neck.

Luna watched in horror as the hooded pony raised the axe to deliver the blow. "I don't wish to see anymore!" she cried, "Voice, take me home!" The world blurred around her, but before the vision faded entirely, she heard the thunk! of the axe.

***

When Luna awoke, she was back in the clearing. The dead tree loomed above her, the bare bark, at least from Luna's eyes, was shining in the moonlight. She felt something run down her cheek. A tear. A tear for the poor stalion in the Canterlot Square.

After a while of laying in the grass, the Princess of the NIght was able to find her voice. "Why did you take me there Voice?" She asked, her voice was shaking as her mind replayed the event over and over again.

Because, the Voice replied. you were doubting yourself. You need to know wht you're fighting for. WHO you're fighting for. Luna stared at nothing, trying to comprehend what she saw.

"So many ponies, all counting on me. Do you really think that I have what it takes?"

I do, the Voice replied, but you have to believe it for yourself. Luna was still for a moment.

She sighed. "Alright, if it means bringing peace to Equestria, then I'll do whatever it takes."

Good. The Voice said, Very good, now onto the next tree. The rest of the night for Luna was spent taking the life force of trees, bushes, even a sleeping animal or two when she happened across their nests. When it was time for her to lower the moon and allow her sister to raise the sun, she felt as if she was full to the brim with power.

You've done well Luna. The Voice said, Now go, rest, and be prepared. The battle for Equestria will begin soon, and the fate of Equestria will be decided. Luna did just that. Her sleep was filled with dreams of celebrating ponies gathering around her as she overthrew her sister, the Sun Tyrant, and brought peace to her land.

Soon. The Voiced whispered seductively. Soon.

Comments

[Appledash<3]

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